Page Tools

The British "jazz bop" scene that's sprung up around DJ Russ
Dewbury's regular nights in Brighton, England, has attracted
interest by blending heavy jazz influences with contemporary dance
beats. However, some Brit music writers insist jazz bop is merely a
relabelling of the mid-'90s acid jazz sound. Quantic/Quantic Soul
Orchestra (QSO) main man and Australian Jazz Bop tour headliner
Will Holland isn't sure. This 24-year-old wunderkind of British
funk is too young to remember acid jazz.

"Well, the last scene I was involved in was the deep funk
scene," says Holland down the line from Brighton. "But before that,
there had been acid jazz. Before that, there was rare groove. And
before that, there was northern soul. All these things, well, maybe
they are the same thing. Maybe they're just redressing them. But
I'd hope what I'm doing is different to acid jazz. I feel it's a
lot rawer, and I'm also trying to keep the music undiluted and
heavy. But I don't know. Maybe it is the same thing!"

The Quantic/QSO sound is way beyond, though, and its roots
significantly pre-date acid jazz. Since the release of Quantic's
acclaimed debut album, The 5th Exotic, in 2001, the
prolific, self-confessed "workaholic" Holland has pumped out two
more Quantic albums (the latest is this year's excellent
Mishaps Happening), released Quantic Soul Orchestra's
supremely groovy Stampede album, and taken the QSO to
festivals around Britain and Europe. He's wrapping up work on the
second QSO album, and also works with producer Russ Porter as the
Limp Twins.

Fusing jazzy breakbeats with Afro-beat, soul and original deep
funk influences, the Quantic sound is the kind of jumping jive,
hep-cat funk you'd expect from dinner-suited old codgers getting
down at a Brit pub in the '60s and '70s. Just check the rootsy,
loose-limbed groove of Don't Joke With a Hungry Man on
Mishaps Happening, featuring soul legend Spanky Wilson, or
the hot'n'heavy groove of Hold It Down on
Stampede, sung by British chanteuse Alice Russell.

I'm always looking at new methods and new ways of doing things."

Holland tries to maintain Quantic and Quantic Soul Orchestra as
separate entities, but admits the lines between the two have become
blurred. Here goes, though: Quantic, slightly more electronic and
moody, is based around Holland's DJ sets and the dancefloor,
whereas QSO, a euphoric homage to early-'70s funk, is driven by the
world of live music and the joys of a big band.

Of course, it's also a huge surprise that this assured and
sophisticated music is being made by a 24-year-old without any
formal music training, and one who's still learning his way around
the guitar, bass and saxophone.

"Yeah, a lot of people are surprised I'm young!" laughs Holland.
"Maybe it's because they would consider what I'm doing to be 'old'
music, but I've worked hard at this for a long time, and I started
early. I've touched on what I want to get at with those albums, but
I'm far off from where I want to be. I'm always looking at new
methods and new ways of doing things, and that's what keeps it
interesting for me."

Quantic Soul Orchestra and Quantic DJs play at the Jazz
Bop v Hip-Hop Festival at the Prince of Wales, St Kilda, next
Thursday and Friday.